Life Lessons as taught by Luna Lovegood
by Ayaia of the Moon
Summary: Luna Lovegood and...Percy Weasley? Two characters who must know each other at least a little, but who are never really mentioned together. NOTromantic ::cause that's a felony:: Percy and Luna. Oneshot. "We grieve differently, Percy Weasley."


Life Lessons, as taught by Luna Lovegood.

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"_VISITORS!!!"_

Percy Weasley rolled his eyes and turned in his stride, changing direction to go and answer the door. It was all well and good to _have_ a family ghoul; excellent for scaring off the apparating salespeople with dragon's liver (It will make you grow several inches in one night) or pickled frog spawn (for those days you just feel like pickled frog in your cauldron). But when there was an actual visitor, it was another matter. (the goul threw things at the apparating saleswitches and wizards; it could tell the difference)

Opening the door, however, Percy was surprised to see a little girl, 8 or 9, with long dirty blonde hair, clutching a small purple handbag and looking somewhat miffed at something. He recognized her, but for the life of him couldn't remember her name.

"Er, hello then…" Percy said lamely, as his brain thought fiercely of the girl's name which he knew. _Laurel? Laine? Laura? Luna!_ "…Luna! Knew I'd think of it," he said, saving his awkward pause as he finally remembered the name.

She just nodded absently. "I had some unpleasant news concerning the dinner your mother had invited my family over for. It's rather sad. Might I come in?"

Percy stood back wordlessly, glancing up one of the many staircases in his house desperately for some sign of his mother, or even Ginny, his younger sister. She was Luna's age, and it was uncomfortable enough being on the landing alone with a little girl when she was 9 and he was nearly 14, but then he had to consider that it was Luna Lovegood, an odd duck anyway if anything else.

Luna wandered listlessly into the house and up a flight of stairs; she hadn't been over often, but knew enough where the nearest sitting room was, unless the doors had changed their minds again – but they hadn't done that in years, as the house grew older – She entered the third floor sitting room (incidentally just down the hall from his mother and father's room) with a practiced air, skipping over a loose floorboard that liked to whack unknowing people in the shins when stepped upon, and sidestepping a footstool that had rushed forward as she passed it, trying to trip her up.

Percy had to admire her coolness; he wondered if she was just brilliant or really naïve in this respect, but pushed the thoughts out of his head as she finally chose to sit in his mother's knitting chair, pulling a half-done sickly maroon jumper towards her as the knitting needles flashed of their own accord. Percy chose to sit across from her, in a rocker his father usually sat in, and waited for this unpleasant news Luna had come to deliver.

No doubt her foolish mother and father wanted to go on a hunt for the Crinkle-nosed Snarfblack, or whatever it was, and had decided to cancel. His mother would be furious – she'd been chasing gnomes all day, trying to take back the potatoes they'd stolen from the garden, and bullying Charlie into helping her, since Bill was off with the goblins in old Wizard Camelot, and Charlie was of age and could help her with the magic.

"There was an accident," Luna said abruptly, not looking at Percy, but the jumper, which was starting to look like a small dress, albeit with no sleeves.

"What sort of accident?" Percy asked kindly, already wincing in his mind at his mother's outbursts that she'd been cooking for nothing all day.

"My mum…she was experimenting with a spell or two," Luna said passively, though Percy couldn't see her face, hidden as it was by the wooly mass of maroon yarn that was destined to be his brother Ron's jumper. "It went rather wrong though."

Percy finally stopped thinking about his mother's anger and let a note of concern enter his voice. "That's awful. Is she at St. Mungo's?"

Luna pushed the needles away from her face, choosing instead to twine the finished portion of the jumper through her fingers. She shook her head, her face impassively blank and somewhat preoccupied, as though she was daydreaming. "Oh no. Not at St. Mungo's at all."

Percy tried not to let annoyance through his features. "And your lot isn't coming to dinner?"

"No, sorry," Luna said, looking up as Mrs. Weasley wandered into the room.

"I'd wondered what I'd done with my knitting," she said absently, pulling the yarn from Luna's grasp and clucking her tongue. "No, look, it's too long, now. Ron isn't _that_ tall. Hello, Luna dear. What brings you here?"

"There was an accident, Mum, and the Lovegoods can't make it to dinner," Percy said promptly, annoyance creeping into his voice again.

Mrs. Weasley, however, didn't look annoyed at all. She looked concerned. "Arthur stopped by a few moments ago – told me nearly the whole of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad had been summoned. Wanted to know what Fred or George had done this time, but I told him everything was fine here. There was an accident?"

Percy was more worried now. The whole squad? It would have to have been really bad for the whole squad to have been summoned.

Luna just nodded absently, standing as if to go. "Daddy is still talking with them, and I thought he might forget to tell you we can't come to dinner – we had been looking forward to it, you see, and I was excited to give Ginny her birthday present."

"Luna," Percy said then, eyes wide behind his horn-rimmed glasses, "if your Mum's not at St. Mungo's, then –"

"Oh, Mum's not at St. Mungo's. She died, you see," Luna said conversationally, as Mrs. Weasley gasped and dropped her knitting and Percy felt ill.

"Luna…Is there anything you need? Anything I can do?" Mrs. Weasley said, pulling Luna into her arms in a bone-crushing hug.

"We're okay for the moment," gasped Luna through the hug. "I don't suppose it's really sunk in, you see. They might need to talk with me soon, though, and I still have to talk to Mrs. Fawcett. She was expecting a jar of my Mum's jam in exchange for the marigolds she clipped us for the Blibbering Humdingers."

"The Blibbering what?" Percy asked curiously, but Mrs. Weasley pulled Luna out of the hug, looking at her.

"You're nine years old, dear. What could the squad possibly want from you?" she asked almost to herself, incredulously.

"Well, I saw it happen," Luna said in her matter-of-fact tone of voice, still not betraying real emotion.

Percy could only chastise himself most vehemently. What was the protocol for this? A handshake? Would it be terribly awkward if he tried to hug her? He could hardly imagine seeing _anyone_ die when he was nine, let alone his _mother_.

With more reassurances from Luna, and more comments from his mother, promising to come over later, Percy found himself being asked to walk Luna home. He agreed without thinking, and now found himself walking her down the stairs as she gazed about in that absent manner of hers.

"Are you…erm…okay…then?" Percy asked stiffly, feeling the awkwardness of their shared silence pressing in on him.

Luna looked at him, and her expression seemed somewhat cold, but he was sure he'd imagined it because she was just looking as absent and wide-eyed as she always did – Mrs. Lovegood was – had been – the same way. Some nonsense about listening harder for their imaginary creatures.

"Would you mind terribly making a stop with me? I wouldn't ask, but Mrs. Fawcett was rather expecting that jar of jam," Luna said loftily, avoiding Percy's uncomfortable question altogether.

"Quite all right," Percy mumbled, looking on in amusement as Luna procured a jar of jam from her handbag. They stopped at the next house – Percy remembered a painful instance of coming to this house on behalf of Fred and George when he was 10, offering to do chores in exchange for the apples that seemed to smash through the window whenever the twins wanted to have Quidditch practice.

Percy watched in amazement as Luna repeated the whole ritual she'd gone through with himself and his mother; the greetings, the evasive way she got around to actually saying that her mother had died, the denial of any help or food – Percy was sure he would have had a breakdown by this time, but Luna just continued to walk with him for the rest of the distance to her tall, castle-shaped house.

"If you wouldn't mind stepping inside with me for a moment, Percy," Luna said airily, gracefully opening the door.

Percy was somewhat shocked by what he saw – certainly no body to behold; (he assumed that the Squad had taken it with them.) Instead, there lay, hunched in a little ball, the tiny form of Xenophillius Lovegood.

"Percy's come to collect Ginerva's birthday present, father," Luna said then, smiling kindly at him, though he made no indication that he'd even heard her. "And Mrs. Fawcett and Mrs. Weasley send their regards. Isn't that nice?" She took care to not step over him, but carefully around him, and she beckoned Percy up a few flights of spiral stairs, and when they reached what he assumed was her room, she stopped, looking at him with a look he'd never seen on her face before. She looked slightly angry, and her demeanor had shifted from its icy coolness she'd been displaying to an annoyed one.

"No," she said abruptly, more sharply than he'd expected.

"No what?" Percy asked, bewildered.

"No, I'm not okay," she clarified, answering the question he'd asked a good ten minutes ago.

"All…all right then?" Percy queried, unsure of how he was supposed to respond.

"I am not okay, and I don't think I'm going to be okay for some time," Luna said calmly, her gaze not wavering, her eyes locked on his. Percy felt immeasurably uncomfortable.

"We grieve differently, Percy Weasley," Luna informed him, tilting her head slightly to the side, as if examining him from another angle. "My father seems to feel more grief than I do, but I assure you, I feel quite devastated."

"I believe you," Percy rushed, confused as Luna handed him not one, but two presents.

"Are these both – "

"One for Ginny, one for you," Luna interrupted smoothly, leaving no room for argument, though her voice hadn't changed from its determined, abrupt tone.

"You don't have to – "

"But I did."

"I didn't even – "

"It doesn't matter."

"But I was being so – "

"You're forgiven."

"I'm so, so sorry that – "

"So am I."

Percy fidgeted, clutching the two gifts, unsure of what to say next. Luna, though, just looked at him in interest, waiting to interrupt him with her own assurances – This was ridiculous. He was only thirteen, and he was supposed to be comforting this little girl who'd lost her mum, but she seemed more ready to comfort _him_, make sure _he_ was okay after telling him of _her_ loss.

"Happy Birthday, Percy," Luna said then, smiling at him.

Percy looked at the little parcel in his left hand. His name had been written, not in the untidy scrawl he knew his sister had, but in a neat, flowing script that couldn't have possibly come from the nine-year-old girl in front of him. He suddenly understood. She was keeping herself busy. She wasn't being heartless or cruel. She was grieving.

"Thank you, Luna," Percy said, and he meant it. He smiled at her. "Is there anything I can do for you while I'm here? Anything you can't reach, or anything you want delivered anywhere?"

Luna beamed. "Now that you mention it, I've been having trouble reaching the extra paper for Daddy's printing press. We have to put out this extra-special edition for 'The Quibbler' and I had been worried we wouldn't meet the deadline."

Percy smiled in the face of her sudden happiness. "Well, direct me to the paper, and I shall do my best to reach it."

Luna wordlessly headed down the stairs, and showed him the many gears and knobs that made up the printing press. Percy helped her sort it out for the next hour, and she finally shooed him out the door. He clutched the two presents, a free copy of 'The Quibbler' and a potted plant that looked suspiciously like the poisonous plant Nightshade he'd learned about in Herbology last term.

He had been given exact instructions as to where this plant would grow best, when to put it in the ground, and how often to water it. It was a gift for his mum, she'd said, to thank her for being so understanding about dinner. He picked up speed then, wanting to get home as fast as he could.

He needed to give Ginny's present to her, after all. And he had to help with the food he knew his mother would make anyway, so it would be ready for delivery to Luna's house in time for dinner. And he wanted to tell his father about this plant. Perhaps read the special edition of 'The Quibbler.' He needed to ask Ginny when Luna's birthday was, so he could be sure and get her something. He needed to teach Errol where Luna's house was, so he could send her things from school when he went in a few weeks. And above all, he really needed to give his Mum a hug.

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A U T H O R S N O T E

This has been on the backburner for a while, so I decided to wrap it up. I found it easier to work on than anything else. Meh. Must be the Christmas season or somesuch. I dunno.

Happy Holidays, and I swear I'll work on Unstable Origins now. fret

Ayaia


End file.
